Poly(arylene ether) resins and their blends with styrenic resins are used in many commercial applications that benefit from their temperature resistance, stiffness, impact strength, and dielectric properties. Conventional poly(arylene ether) resins have intrinsic viscosities of about 0.3 to about 0.6 deciliter per gram, as measured in chloroform at 25° C. Conventional poly(arylene ether) resins also have, on average, about one terminal hydroxy group per polymer chain. Recently, some new applications for poly(arylene ether) resins, including compositions for printed circuit board fabrication, have created a need for poly(arylene ether) resins with lower intrinsic viscosities and more than one terminal hydroxy group per polymer chain. However, known synthesis methods are not suitable for the preparation of such low intrinsic viscosity, high functionality poly(arylene ether) resins. For example, as described below, the present inventors found that a conventional method of using an aqueous solution of chelating agent to extract polymerization catalyst metal ion from an organic solution of poly(arylene ether) resin resulted in formation of dispersions that made it difficult to separate the poly(arylene ether) from the polymerization catalyst. There is therefore a need for new poly(arylene ether) synthesis methods that avoid the formation of a dispersion during purification of poly(arylene ether) resins having low intrinsic viscosity and high functionality. There is also a need for poly(arylene ether) resins that are enriched in low molecular weight poly(arylene ether) chains.